Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Friday night was quite fun. After coming back from Mountain View in the afternoon, I bummed around for a little bit before getting ready for the night. First stop? Off to Barracuda for dinner with Chrisn, Randy and Austin. Thank god Austin made a reservation for us because the place was packed. We had a really good time though, and the cucumber martinis definitely helped with that.

Next stop was Lime for A-List Monthly. The event was featuring this great razztini that we drank like no other. And my favorite bartender was there, and we finally introduced ourselves to each other for the first time. Chrisle and Juan-Carlos met up with us, and it was one drunken debauchery. Sadly, I didn't remember much and found out from Juan-Carlos the next morning that I walked out of the restaurant AFTER I had ordered food for our late night meal. I apparently got up and left without telling any of the boys where I was going. Juan-Carlos had to come outside to find out that I was going home. Disaster! Check out all the pics from the night here and here.

Saturday was ugly; I hadn't been that hung over in a long time. I had twenty millions errands to run and originally had thought I could make it to the gym. I instead sat on my couch unable to move. Juan-Carlos called me in the afternoon to meet him for lunch at Crepevine. Thank goodness because I desperately needed to mobilize. We had a nice lunch and went to the Haight to do some shopping for Chrisle's 'Mariah You're On Fiyah' party happening this Saturday. If you are invited, you better be there!

I headed back to the Marina for a short time before heading down to Bill's pad for our Project Runway get together. That was fun as usual and then it was time to go to Bill's friend Peter's house party where we guzzled (and yes I used the word guzzle) more booze. By this time, I was luckily no longer hung over. The party was fun despite the fact that I was freezing on the roof; we went up there for the amazing view. The boys went to the Castro, but I chose the comfort of my bed instead because the next day was filled with more activities.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Google for the first time took a stance on a social-political issue. We as a company are saying NO to Proposition 8 on the November ballot, which would amend the State Constitution to ban the current marriage rights for same-sex couples. Take a look at the official statement below or at this link.

Our position on California's No on 8 campaign9/26/2008 03:23:00 PMAs an Internet company, Google is an active participant in policy debates surrounding information access, technology and energy. Because our company has a great diversity of people and opinions -- Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, all religions and no religion, straight and gay -- we do not generally take a position on issues outside of our field, especially not social issues. So when Proposition 8 appeared on the California ballot, it was an unlikely question for Google to take an official company position on.

However, while there are many objections to this proposition -- further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text -- it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8. While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 -- we should not eliminate anyone's fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love.

Posted by Sergey Brin, Co-founder & President, Technology

I hope our Executive Management Group knows how much this simple action means to millions of Californians. I could not be happier and prouder to be a Googler. This makes me quite emotional and somewhat teary eyed. I even sent my parents about en email about it, and we never talk about gay issues. I am truly blessed to be at a company that is forward thinking and stands up against discrimination. This is definitely not something I will take for granted.

Make sure you and your friends and family vote NO on Proposition 8 in November.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Tuesday night, I met up with Chrisle and Jessica at the very delicious Piperade in the Financial District. The place is a hidden gem because there are no restaurants or anything else really around Piperade. It serves Basque cuisine, which we had never heard of before. We had quite the delicious dinner including the hilarious dialogue below (after a couple of martinis of course):

Me: How big is the steak?Waiter: Pretty big, well, how big do you want it?Me: As much as I can fit in my mouth.Chrisle: Eeeww.

LOL! The steak was delicious and probably the best dish out of the three. After dinner, we trekked over to the Castro to get some boba and gelato. In typical drunken Alex fashion, I was a fat cow and went to order french fries (I had to force myself not to get a burger) at Sliders. The three of us had a really good time!

Wednesday was so action packed. Jay, Bill, Chrisle, Chrisn, Jackie and I met for an early dinner at E&O Trading Company. We had a family style meal, which turned out to be quite a good deal (each person only paying $26), and we had some great dishes.

The reason we had to grab an early meal because we had tickets to go see 'Spring Awakening!' I had no idea what the show was about except that it won a bunch of Tony Awards. The show turned out to be super intense, but the music was beautiful. I loved it! Below is 'The Guilty Ones,' my favorite song from the show. It's heartbreaking and wonderful at the same time. Check it out!

We all needed a big drink after the intensity. Luckily, it was A-List Wednesday so we headed over to MR. for the night. The place was packed, and A-List has seriously evolved into such a scene. It's not really a simple get together anymore. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. I had a good time though even though MR. doesn't have a full bar. I was starving after the drinking and ended up grabbing a cab to Mel's in the Marina for a late night Avocado burger. Yes I know I eat a lot but that is why I go to the gym so much. See all the pics from the night here.

Thursday was so busy at work, and I just wanted to go home, but I didn't. Bill and I headed over to Lorenzo's fancy loft in SOMA for his weekly movie night. This week was 'Lawrence of Arabia,' a four hour movie. There was even an intermission. I have mixed feelings about the movie, and the character was horrible towards the end. It was a fun event though. We got done around midnight. I was supposed to meet up with Dustin in the Castro, but I was too tired and had to wake up before 6AM today to trek down to Mountain View.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

These are the days of an impossible princess...words from the divine Ms. Kylie Minogue inspire me all the time. Saturday Sean and his bf David arrived in SF from Ventura. I hadn't seen Sean in ages; it's been so long that I couldn't remember at all the last time I hung out with him. It was nice to see him, and Fabien happened to be in the city as well on Saturday afternoon. They both saw my apartment in the Marina for the first time then we all headed to Union Square for some shopping. I didn't want to spend any money but ended up buying a $20 white belt from H&M, not too bad. We then grabbed a bite at Max's; the food was mediocre, but it did the trick. We then went back to my place to get ready for the night.

We cabbed it down to Bill's pad for our semi-weekly 'Project Runway' viewing. It was great to get a lot of the boys together and for Sean and David to meet my friends. We had the best time and played a drinking game while watching the show. The game rules turned out that we pretty much drank every two minutes...love it! I barely remembered the later episodes because I was drunk and all of us were jabbing back and forth so loudly to hear what was actually going on.

After the episodes were done, we all headed over to Swank at Mecca. I hadn't been to the event before, and the bar was packed. I figured it would be a good turn out. We saw many gay boys that we knew, no surprise at how small this town is actually. We stayed at Mecca for awhile and drank up a storm. Eventually Bill, Billy, Sean, David and I headed over to the Bar on Castro for some dancing. Apparently the last time Sean was here in SF, we also went to BOC. He remembered me giving some guy a lap dance there...um...Sean must be confused because that doesn't sound like something I would do...LOL! We ended the night with some drunken pizza and cabbed it back to my apartment. Sean was hilarious when we got home; he wasn't used to getting tanked so he kept telling us that the room was spinning. I was actually a little worried that he would throw up. See all the pics from the day here and here.

Sunday we got up and had brunch at a diner place on Union, which served the biggest mimosa glasses I've ever seen. Too bad it was cheap champagne. Sean and David left after that because they had to catch a show and start driving back down to Southern Cali. They were here a short time, but we made the most of it. I told Sean that we will have to see each other more than once in a blue moon. The rest of Sunday turned out to be mellow for me. I watched a lot of TV, which was definitely needed. I sat on my couch and went through "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," "Jawbreaker" (horrible movie and acting but super entertaining) and "The Devil Wears Prada." I was on my way to KFC for a healthy dinner when Bernard called me. The best part was that he offered to come up to the Marina to meet me for dinner. No one ever comes up; it's always me trekking south to meet people. We went to Yuzu for a great dinner and a nice bottle of wine (they were doing this 25% off special). I love Sunday night dining when a restaurant is pretty empty. There is just a simple sense of comfort in that.

Monday was so busy at work, but I managed to take a gym break during lunch and meet my cousin Cindy for dinner. I hadn't seen her since her birthday party. We went to Perbacco in the financial district. When I must arrived I saw suits all around me. It was kind of a formal atmosphere. The food was delicious and the conversation charming. I then went back to work after dinner since I still had more to do. Surprisingly, Bill was still there too.

When I got home, I was in for quite a surprise. I received a very nice letter from Egypt that made me smile, and that is all I am going to say about that.

~A

PS: Yes I am aware I wrote this blog entry at 4AM in the morning. That is dedication for you my dear readers!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

It was definitely one eventful week, and I wonder if all this fabulousness will maintain. Wednesday I met up with Chrisle for dinner at L'Ardoise (which means chalkboard), a cute French Bistro by his apartment in Duboce Triangle. The food was delicious and the vibe was cool. Chrisle mentioned that he and I always go to the most romantic restaurants together. Well, we gotta go ourselves when there aren't bfs around to take us.

After dinner, we had an alternative Wednesday rather than going to A-List. This week, A-List took place at Elements, which was horrible the last time we went. We and the rest of the crowd left after one round of drinks. Everybody proceeded to the Castro so the boys convinced me not we would be snobs and not make an appearance...LOL! I agreed even though guilt ate away at me, and ironically Antoine (the organizer of A-List) even texted me during dinner to see if I was going, and he never does that!!! Chrisle had never been to Midnight Sun so we stopped by for a hot second, and it was packed. All the boys were out in full force because of Project Runway Wednesdays there. Our main event for the night though was Frathouse at 440, quite different from A-List. Chrisn showed up one hot tranny mess because he was at an open bar party beforehand. He swerved left and right and asked the bartender for champagne (keep in mind we are at a leather bar with jockstraps hung out on the ceiling). I ordered him a club soda instead. Jay Beez, David and Tom showed up as well, and we had a great time befriending random strangers. Chrice and Randy wanted to come meet up with us, but we were all too drunk and had gone home. Oops! Check out all the pics from the night here.

Thursday night I met up with Maryam for dinner at the high recommended Anchor & Hope. It's always nice to catch up with my CMU buddy. Maryam had oyster for the first time ever with me at the restaurant, and she liked it. I had a lobster roll as my main entree, and it was to die for! All that butter made it super delicious. Maryam and I had a long discussion about whether or not we were happy in general. I think I have a lot of good moments, but I am not sure if I am actually happy overall.

Friday was confusing at first because no plans had been solidified earlier in the day. However, things came together. Chrisce organized for Randy, Austin, Jay and me to have dinner at the Cheese Steak Shop. I was the first to arrive and was a little scared when I first inspected the place. Let's just say it was a little rough around the edges. When Randy arrived, he made us wait in his car. LOL! Eventually all the boys arrived, and we had a great dinner. It was funny to have us gay gabbing loudly in this super butch environment.

Then it was off to the Castro for drinks (and much needed ones). We started the night at BOC where the music selection was on and off. Chrisce left us after BOC as we were heading to Badlands because he was exhausted (the boy had just gotten back from a two week trip in India). Randy, Austin, Jay and I made it to go dancing. However, the three boys wanted to leave, but I couldn't go yet because I had promised Eric that I would meet him at Badlands. And I couldn't ditch him for a third time in a row. Luckily Princeton Chris met up with us so Randy, Austin and Jay could go home. Before I knew it, Eric and Tyler had arrived as well. If I remembered correctly though, Princeton Chris and I didn't stay with Eric and Tyler for long because we got hungry and went to Sliders for burgers. We drunken gossiped, and I found out that Alan has moved to NY...without even telling us!!!

Friday, September 19, 2008

I was surfing iTunes last night and discovered this new single by Faith Hill called 'A Baby Changes Everything,' which I thought was kind of a weird title for a song, but Faith is a mother of two so that could sorta made sense. I listened to a snippet and thought it was actually pretty good so I did a Google search on Faith Hill and found out that she was coming out with a Christmas album, "Joy To The World." I was then thoroughly confused as to how this song and title related to Christmas. I went to YouTube and started listening to solve this musical mystery.

Not a ringOn her handAll her dreams and all her plansA baby changes everything

This sounded so very sad and depressing. Was Faith inspired by Jamie Lynn Spear's trashy ways of having a baby at sixteen, and this being that whore's first Christmas with her new bundle of joy? Maybe unwed mothers have it extra rough during the holiday season?

The man she loves, she's never touchedHow will she keep his trustA baby changes everything

Um...how could she get pregnant then? Wait, maybe it is because she cheated on her red neck boyfriend with another fellow and now she is knocked up and doesn't know how to tell her BF!!!

And she cries, oh she criesShe has to leave, go far awayHeaven knows she can't stayA baby changes everything

I would cry too if I had to gain a bunch of weight and not be able to drink during all the Christmas parties and not to mention the next nine months. But why can't the bitch stay? Do you get deported when you have to give birth?

Jesus! No, literally Jesus...this song ain't about some slutty knocked up sixteen year old who wanted to lose her V card ASAP. It's the freakin' Nativity Story! So this was what Faith was all about. Oops...LOL!

My whole life is turned aroundI was lost and now I'm foundA baby changes everything

A baby changes everything

Sounds a little too preachy to me...urg. Christmas is now for everyone, not just the religious zealots!

I poke fun, but the song is actually quite beautiful. And I am a huge fan of Faith Hill and country music. I even mentioned it in my job interview. I wish you could have been there as my facial expressions changed along with the song progression, the look of realization taking over me.

I sometimes wonder if I have 'whore' written on my forehead in the gym. After the whole ordeal with Big Penis Dude, I thought it couldn't get more insane. Well, I was wrong. I had a great workout yesterday after work and was getting undressed to hit the showers when this fugly dude started staring at me while he was drying himself outside of the showers. We made eye contact for a second, and I knew something was wrong. I hustled over to a shower stall and within seconds, he was at the opposite stall from mine showering FOR THE SECOND TIME! I could see from the corner of my eyes, he was touching his dick while staring at me up and down. He washed that area of his body with precise attention. I mean it wasn't even subtle. He was desperately trying to make me look at him, and I instead turned one hundred and eighty degrees to make sure he knew I wasn't interested. Eventually he finished showering (how long can you wash for when you just did it minutes ago?) He of course took his sweet time drying himself and left. I took a breath of relief, which did not last very long because as I walked towards the steam room, he was there waiting for me! He even opened the door for me...ahhhhhhh!

We all sneak a peak here and there once in awhile. Hell I even admit I do it quite often, but full on cruising is just ridiculous. And my second question is why is it always the busted ones who prey on me? Why can't my Gym Crush (with a solid body and a nice patch of chest hair) ever look my way? A friend of a fiend's third distant cousin twice removed once blew a guy in the bathroom stall of his gym. He even figured out the perfect technique of not getting caught. He brought into the stall a huge gym bag and stepped into it while blowing the guy. This made people from the outside think there was only one guy and a big bag in the stall if they looked in. How clever indeed! Now all of you know how to get away with some bathroom action. Of course, I don't approve of such things though...we wholesome boys never would.

Anyways...Tuesday night was one hot tranny mess. Chrisle earlier in the day passed along an invite from Nirvino.com. It is a social networking sites for alcoholics...oops I meant drinkers of the city. You can go on the site to review drinks and bars and find other people who want to guzzle drinks down with you. Well, Nirvino.com happened to be hosting a mixology contest called 'Show Me Your Cachaca' at Sens Restaurant. I RSVPed for Chrisle and me right away. Well we arrived early, and it turned out that a bartender at Restaurant Sens entered the contest last moment and had no idea what he was going to make. So being the good Samaritans that we are, we offered to taste all the different drinks he conCOCKed. Chrisle dear declared that he was quite buzzed after the first few trials. Before we knew it, we were being ushered into a different room where the contest was supposed to go down. But before all that even happened, the representative of Cabana Cachaca (a Brazilian rum and the official spirit of the night) wanted us to taste a secret pineapple cocktail he made. We then drank a few rounds of those to discover that this was the pre event drinks, which was actually the post-pre event drinks for us thanks to the kindness of the bartender. Then waitresses appeared pouring us shots of the Brazilian rum because they wanted us to taste the essence of the liquor and its true flavor. When have I ever said no to free shots?! This was truly an event for the real alcoholics.

Then the competition actually started, but the problem was...I was falling down drunk at this point. God knows how many drinks in I was, and the damn contest didn't even begin yet. The first bartender made his cocktail, and this was the best part, they made so many fucking drinks that we each had to have three of four cocktails to decide whether we liked it or not. Then the second bartender came on deck, and then I was done! Apparently I made Chrisle and Jessica leave because I was at my complete limit. I am sad that we did not make it to the final judging process but at that point, all the booze tasted the same. I could have been drinking rubbing alcohol and wouldn't have know the difference. Adam and Connie were the real troopers and made it till the end.

We had to grab a bite before I died. Osha magically appeared before us, and I devoured the food like I hadn't been fed in days. My favorite line of the night was Chrisle's "Osha is Thai food at white people prices." LOL! We ended the night with a delicious chocolate souffle at One Market. I wonder how long my body will be able to maintain all this punishment before it poos poos out on me. Hopefully not for awhile!!!